Thirty-seven year Solange Nyirangiruwonsanga, who is implicated in the highly publicised murder of a nine-year-old boy, will on Friday, July 15 be tried at the scene of crime in Ndera Sector, Gasabo District. The suspect worked as a house help in the deceased’s family. According to Harrison Mutabazi, the trial will take place in the Ndera sub-parish catholic church, near the home where the suspect worked when she allegedly committed the crime. The substantive trial will be conducted by Gasabo Intermedia Court and according to Mutabazi, taking the court to the community is usually done to help in fighting against such crimes. He said that usually, when the case is tried in the courtroom, there are few people who will attend unlike when the judges go to the community. “At the moment, she is still a suspect but in case she gets convicted, it would serve as a deterrent for others in the community who may attempt to commit a similar crime,” he reiterated. In addition, he added that subjecting suspects to a community trial also helps the court come close to witnesses, which expedites delivery of justice. “It is a normal practice only that we had put a stop to it because of the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said. He added that often times, such decisions apply to extraordinary crimes such as murder. Speaking on the stage of the trial, Mutabazi said that despite the fact that the case will be starting in its substantive phase, the suspect will also have time to ask for bail. “Her case was fast-tracked which means she will be arraigned and the trial will begin in substance in the same seating,” he said. Mutabazi further pointed out that the case file is accelerated when there is enough ground to suspect that the suspect committed a crime and there is no need for further investigation. Nyirangiruwonsanga was supposed to make her first appearance before court on July 11, but her trial was postponed when the date was declared a public holiday in honour of Eid al-Adha. The alleged murder took place on June 12. The maid was alone in the house with the victim with both parents away and preliminary investigation pointed to the house help. “During the investigation, she admitted to the murder,” Thierry Murangira, the spokesperson of the Rwanda Investigation Bureau, told The New Times in an earlier interview. Currently, there is not much information about what could have been the motive behind the murder.
